Watch a Combat Robot Saw Straight Into Its Rival’s Battery
One robot pins another on its forks. Then it brings a saw down through the lid and into the battery, and the cage fills with smoke. That ends the fight. NHRL, the robot combat league that posted the clip, calls the finishing move unhinged.
The short clip pits a robot called Beetle Swarm against one called Ghoul. In the league’s own words, Beetle Swarm catches Ghoul on its forks and drives its hammersaw through the top plate into the battery. The smoke ends the match.
Two simple tools did the damage
Forks are flat prongs on the front of a robot, a bit like a forklift’s. They slide under an opponent and lift its edge. Once a robot is up on the forks, its wheels can’t grip the floor properly, so it struggles to get away.
A hammersaw is two weapons in one. A spinning saw blade sits at the end of an arm. The arm swings down like a hammer, so the blade cuts into whatever is under it instead of just glancing off.
Put them together and you get the move in this clip. First hold the rival still, then cut down into it from above. The top plate is the robot’s lid. Under it sit the parts that keep the robot running, battery included.
A pierced battery is what fills the cage with smoke
Many combat robots, like plenty of drones and hobby cars, run on lithium polymer batteries, called LiPos for short. They pack a lot of power into a small, light pack. That matters in a sport where every ounce counts.
The catch is what happens when one gets pierced. The thin layers inside touch, short out and heat up fast. That is when you see smoke, and sometimes flames.
NHRL’s channels show this is not a one-off. In another clip, the league describes a robot called Xenomorph losing its top plate. Its battery flew out, caught fire and spun through the air. In a third clip, a flamethrower robot built around an exposed butane tank became a fireball after a single hit.
That is why these fights take place inside a closed cage. The robots can burn. The audience watches from the other side of the walls.
NHRL is a real league, and beginners can enter
NHRL is the National Havoc Robot League, based in Norwalk, Connecticut. According to the league’s wiki, it has run events since 2019.
The league says it welcomes builders of every age and skill level, first-timers included. Robots fight in weight classes. One long-time entry, a spinning robot called Project Liftoff, weighs just 3 pounds. The league’s bigger machines fight at 30 pounds.
Fights take place at the league’s venue in Norwalk, the House of Havoc. The biggest ones happen in an arena called the Havoc Bowl. NHRL streams every event in full on its YouTube channel. Its Pro Tour World Championships also stream free on DAZN, the sports streaming service.
This finish is about planning, not just power
Plenty of robot fights end with one huge hit that sends something flying across the arena. This one is slower and more deliberate. Grab first, then cut where it hurts. That is strategy you can follow even if you have never built a robot.
It is also a useful reminder if you own a drone or a remote-control car. The same kind of battery that smoked in this cage may be sitting in your garage. If a pack is crushed, punctured or puffed up, treat it as dangerous and don’t charge it.
